Conventional agricultural seeders are often employed to deposit planting material into soil. Many seeders include a material dispensing implement that is towed behind a tractor or similar vehicle for distributing planting material, such as seed, fertilizer, pesticide, and other chemicals and materials, onto a furrowed farmland or similar planting surface. The implement may consist of multiple dispensing units or opener units that are supported by a common or shared frame that is towed by the tractor.
Agricultural seeders may include one or more ground engaging tools or openers that form a seeding path for planting material deposition into the soil. The openers are used to break the soil to enable seed deposition. After the planting material is deposited, each opener is followed by a packer wheel that packs the soil on top of the deposited material. Seeders commonly use pneumatic systems to transport planting material from a storage hopper to the soil to be deposited. Typically, air flow is provided through tubes or distribution lines to transport product therethrough.
In certain configurations, an air cart is used to meter and transport the planting material (e.g., seeds, fertilizer, etc.) to ground engaging tools within the seeding implement. The air cart may include a hopper having one or more compartments configured for holding various planting material. Certain air carts include a metering system configured to deliver metered quantities of material into a tube or distribution line that transfers the material to the openers. The metering system will control distribution from the one or more compartments of the hopper to distribution lines such that each compartment provides planting material at a desired rate. Typically, an air cart includes a single large fan which supplies air flow to all distribution lines for pneumatic delivery of the planting material therethrough. From the distribution lines, air flow is diverted into primary distribution manifolds to secondary distribution manifolds that then feed the distribution lines which deliver the planting material to individual opener units.
Using a single fan to supply air to multiple distribution lines may be limiting with respect to controlling the distribution of various planting material to different opener units. More specifically, the use of a single fan to supply air to multiple distribution lines can result in uneven dispersal of air in the distribution lines. Further, in order to insure that the air pressure in the distribution lines is consistent, all the distribution lines are the same length, regardless of the distance between the air cart to the secondary distribution manifolds. As a result, most pneumatic systems require distribution lines of excess length, thereby adding expense to the system and cluttering the equipment cluttered. As such, a more accurate and reliable method of distributing air is needed.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide an agricultural air cart assembly with individually controlled product distribution lines.
It is a further object and feature of the invention to provide an agricultural air cart assembly with individually controlled product distribution lines wherein each distribution line is part of a self-contained unit.
It is a still further object and feature of the invention to provide an agricultural air cart assembly wherein the excess lines used on the air cart is minimized.